Air-compressor.



C. W. WEISS.

AIR COMPRESSOR.

APPLICATION man JULY 13, 191s.

CARL W. WEISS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

.AIR-COMPRESSOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

Application filed July 13, 1915. Serial No. 39,533.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CARL W. WEISS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, in theState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAir-Compressors, ofwhich the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to air compressors and is concerned particularlywith the construction of the suction and discharge valves therefor, theformation of the compressor head, and the disposition of the valves withrespect to each other, to the compressor cylinder, and to the inlet anddischarge passages. In carrying out the invention it has been sought toprovide a construction in which the volumetric eiciency of thecompressor shall be a maximum without, however, sacrificing suchdesirable details in structure as are of prime importance to themanufacturer in constructing and assembling the various parts of thevalves, both from the standpoint of initial cost and convenience. Theinvention provides a compressor head which is mounted directly upon thecompressor' cylinder and has formed therein separate valve chambers forthe communicating inlet and discharge passages, the parts within thesevalve chambers being readily accessible for replacement and adequatelycooled by the formation of cooling chambers in which the valve chambersare disposed and which occupy all of the remaining space within thecompressor head. The controlling valves are disposed within therespective valve chambers and in communication withthe compressorcylinder so as to lie in planes which are substantially at right anglesto the cylinder, whereby the pressure of the compressed air upon thevalves is less than in known constructions where the valves are exposeddirectly to the compression space. Further, the passage betweenthe'compressor cylinder and the valves is somewhat tapered so that thevolume of air which reaches its upper end approaches Zero and thevolumetric efficiency is accordngly enhanced. The improved valvesthemselves comprise generally a valve cage in which are detachablysecured in operative relation to each other, a valve seat, a springcheck valve thereon and a guard to limit the movement of the valve fromthe seat, each of the enumerated parts being of standard design andbeing with corresponding parts and the valve unit as a whole beingreadily removable f from its valve chamber and susceptible of remountingin the other valve chamber, the only change occasioned by thisinterchange being in the direction of flow of the compressed air. Again,if desired, the standardized parts of the valve unit referred to may beremoved from the valve cage and reassembled in such relation to eachother and to the cage as to permit the valve to seat in a directionopposite to that first assumed, whereby the particular unit in questionis adapted for the control of air flowing'in an opposite direction, theadvantages of such change in any given unit residing principally in thefacility with which the character of the compressor may be changed, theinitial assembling of parts expedited,

and in the compensation for wear thereon from time to time by thereversal of the wearing faces. Another feature of the invention lies inthe construction ofthe improved spring valve which embodies theadvantages of cheapness of cost and effectiveness in operation, its formbeing such as to prevent teetering and consequent loss of pressure andwear. Improved means for maintaining the valve units removably in placeso that they may always' be readily accessible are also included 'andtheir nature will be pointed out in detail hereinafter together withcertain other features which need not be referred to at this point,reference now being had to the accompanying drawings for a detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which- Figurel is a fragmentary view in transverse section taken through a compressorhead embodying the improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved compressor head.

Fig. 3 is a View in transverse section through the head taken on theplane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the directionof the arrows.

Fig. t is a detail view on a somewhat larger scale of the improvedspring valve.

The improved compressor head, indicated generally at a, is shoulderedatv its lower edge at a to afford a seat for the head on the upper edgeof the'compressor cylinder7 a fragment of which is shown at I) in Fig.l, and the head may be secured detachably to the cylinder throughsuitable bolts passed through channels a2 readily interchangeable formedin the head, as

' of'the fluid, although as will appear hereinwill be apparent. In theheada' are formed centrally thereof oppositely extending valve chambers0, d, the outer ends of which areI exposed through the walls 'of thehead and` .the inner ends of which terminate in a chamber al'(illustrated as the discharge chamber) may communicate with a deliverypipe through a duct a4 also formed in the compressor head.

The'improved valve units willgiirst be described in. detail and theirdisposition within the improved head and the means formaintaining themremovably in position will then be pointed out. The valve which controlsthel inlet ,must necessarily function in a -slightly different mannerfrom that controlling the outlet in so far as its movement is concernedin respect to the direction of flow after the elements of the -valveunits are in mit the flow a screw 7a. which -both instances identicaland interchangeable. The-unit for controlling the inlet comprises Iacage'ff formed as a spider between the arms of which are ample openingsf to perof air therethrough and this spider has its arms shouldered, asata/2, to

afford a substantial seat for the valve seat through which extendcircumferential slots g which are normally closed by a spring valve It,illustrated particularly in Fig. 4.

The construction of this valve- -is such as to afl'ord ample resiliencyfor quick movements from its seat and at thesame time present arelatively large surface to the compressed fluid to insure acorrespondingly quick seating in the manner well known in checkv valves.The substantially cylindrical sections z. of the valve L which liedirectly over the circumferential recesses g in the valve seat g are ofrelatively large area and may be said to be carried yieldingly on spiralarms la? stamped integral with said sections and with what may be termedthe valve body la, so that under varying pressures in one direction orthe other the portions It are drawn from or toward the valve seat g. Thevalve seat g is held on the shouldered portion f2 of the spider f bymeans of a shouldered guard z' for the valve, through which extend ampleopenings z" to permit the flow of fluid therethrough. The valve seat g,the valve 71, and the valve guard are assembled in the relationshipdescribed and maintained in such. relationship by means of l passesthrough central openings formed in each of the parts and is threadedinto the Yspider f whereby these several parts with the spider become,in effect, a unitary structure which may be assembled and placed inpositiony or removed therefrom as a unit. In, making the assembly it isnecessary that the parts be so constructed as to lie in properrelationship to each other and to this end the'mechanical details willhave to be worked out by one skilled in the art. For example, in theillustrated embodiment, the valve guard i is slightly recessed, as ati?,and is formed centrally with a hub 153 which presses directly againstthe valve 7LA to maintain the same in snug` engagement with the face of'the valve seat g. By this construction an ample air space is lef'tbetween the rear side of thevalve Guard z' and the valve, but at thesame time the range of movement of the controlling valve sections h. isproperly limited and the body of the valve z. is held firmly in place.Again, it is desirable to recess the front face of the guard i at itscentral portion, as indicated at 4, to the end that the head of thescrew 7c may rest therein and lie flush with the outer face of theguard. The valve unit for controlling the discharge of the fluid iscomposed of the same elements described in connection with the inletvalve, these elements being merely rearranged to permit the spring valvehy to be moved inthe proper direction for the escape of fluid and toseat upon the valve seat g to prevent the inflow of' Huid in a mannerusual in check valves. In assembling the unit for the control of thedischarge the guard i is inverted with respect to the position which itoccupies in the inlet valve and is placeddirectly against the spider fon the shouldered arms of' which it rests on a cooperating annularshoulder 5. In this position, theihub 3 abuts against the spring valveIt in the relation pointed out with respect to the inlet valve therebyleavingl a chamber between the guard z' and the valve and the valve seatg abuts against the valve -with the face of the seat, in the mannerpointed out in connection tion of the inlet valve.

At the inner ends of the valve chambers c, el, adjacent the passage e,are formed flanges Z continuous throughout and constituting shouldersupon which seat the valve units hereinbef'ore described. The inletvalve, assembled as above, is placed in the inlet passage c and theannular shoulder 6 of the guard i is seated upon the flange Z at the endof the inlet chamber. The flange Z conforms in outline to the outline ofthe guard sothat an air-tight fit is insured. The valve unit ismaintained in place removably with the descripby means of a set screw mwhich passes through a cover plate n fastened to the outer wall of thecompressor head a by bolts 0 and the head of the set screw may becompletely covered by a cap p threaded into the cover plate. Thefunction of the set screw is to maintain the valve unit on its seat onthe shoulder Z, and accordingly the end of the set screw 'm bearsagainst the spider f and is preferablyv positioned co-axially therewith.The cover plate and associated elements for the discharge passage (Z areduplicated` in every respect so that all of the corresponding elementsused in the improvements are symmetrical and interchangeable throughout.

In assembling the improved structure two valve units are made up in themanner hereinbefore pointed out, the elements thereof being so assembledthat the spring valves zr will serve to permit the inflow of air and inthe other instance to permit the outflow thereof. The units are thenplaced in position on the shoulders Z and the cover plates n secured tothe compressor head a, the set screws m brought into proper relation tothe spiders f respectively 'and the caps p for the set screws inserted.The inlet duct a3 communicates with the source of fluid, while thedischarge duct (L4 leads to a delivery pipe for the compressed fluid. 0nthe suction stroke, air is drawn through the passages f" in the spiderf, the passages g in the valve seat g, the sections z. of the valve tbeing unseated through their yielding supports 71.2, and the air passeson through the openings i in the guard i from whence it enters thecylinder b through the passage e. During the suction stroke. of course,the sections v/ of the valve h in the discharge valve unit are held totheir seats so as to close the passages g in the valve seat g of theother unit. Upon the compression stroke, the discharge valve h will beforced from its seat and the compressed air Will be discharged throughthe delivery duct ai* while the valve k of the other unit will bepressed firmly against its seat g. The large surfaces presented by thesections it of the spring valves la, insure a quick sharp response tovarying degrees of pressure so that the passages controlled respectivelyby these sections will be closed or opened quickly at the. requiredtime. vThis large exposed surface and the manner of mounting thesections on the spring plates h2 as well as the relationship of thevalve parts to the juxtaposed guards i further insure that the valvemovements shall be quick and sharp and shall in no case result inteeteringand consequent loss of pressure and excessive wear on thecontacting surfaces. Again, the responsiveness of the valves is enhancedby the positioning thereof in planes at` substantially right angles tothe direction of travel of the air, that is, at right angles to thecompressor cylinder b. The shape of this passage e is also of greatimportance in a device of this kind inasmuch as its tapered form is ofminimum volume, approaching zero at the end remote from the compressorcylinder, thereby insuring the highest possible volumetric efficiency.It is quite evident that all of the constituent elements of the valveunits are symmetrical and interchangeable with corresponding parts, sothat in the initial assembly a large stock of pa'rts may be employed anddrawn from as necessary. Further, the wear on the several surfaces maybe equalized from time to time during the use of the compressor bywithdrawing the units and reversing any one of the parts so that thewearing surfaces are changed. The formation of the valve chambers c, d,in the compressor head and the disposition therein vof the valve unitsand the cover' plates n insure accessibility to the valve. units andfacilitate their removal as required. Advantage is taken of thecharacter of the compressor head a. and the valve chambers c, (l,therein, in cooling the operative Darts of the compressor. To this end.the compressor head a is hollow throughout and a cooling medium. such aswater, is introduced into the hollow portion through suitable passagesf/ formed therein and this cooling water is permitted to circulatefreely around the valve chambers c, d, as will be evident from Fig. 3.The construction throughout is one of simplicity, cheapness andaccessibility.

Modifications in the details of construction and rearrangements of partsmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, providedsuch departures fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In combination with a. cage, a valve unit' carried on the cage andcomposed of a seat, a plate valve and a guard, said seat beinginvertible and the seat and the guard being interchangeable in positionrelative to the cage without disturbing their operative relation to theplate valve whereby the valve may be caused to act either as an inlet oroutlet valve with said cage.

2. In combination with a cage, a. valve unit cairied on the cagecomposed of a4 seat, a plate valve and a guard, both the unit and theplate valve being invertible, and the seat and guard beinginterchangeable in position relative to the cage without changing theiroperative relation t'o the valve.

This specification signed this second day of July, A. D. 1915.

CARL W. WEISS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

